5-Why Analysis: Traffic on C5

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself
Philippians 2:3

Why is traffic bad along C5 from Market! Market! to that overpass crossing the Pasig River?

This section of the highway is poorly designed with four bottlenecks in a span of 1.5 kilometers.

Topped with the Filipinos’ penchant for squeezing in every road space available, this blends just the right formula for a horrifyingly epic experience on the road.

It is safe to say that you can get anywhere around Metro Manila within 30 to 45 minutes, traveling at a safe speed of 80 kilometers per hour. But the only time you can do this is during Holy Week (at least from Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday) or a Manny Pacquaio fight.

On the contrary, traversing that very span of C5 will take you about 45 minutes to an hour on peak hours 5pm to 8pm, Mondays through Fridays. Don’t miss it.

Why does the road have a poor design? Why are our roads riddled with mediocre engineering? Why do we drive the way we do?

The 1.5-kilometer calvary starts at the elevated U-turns on the intersection of Kalayaan and C5, which the MMDA purports would ease traffic congestion. The structures do their job well,  making these two overpasses a prime example of good road engineering… but only in part. The elevated U-turns, by design, take out the need for traffic lights–allowing vehicles to move seamlessly.

But the MMDA had to work with the same parcel of real estate as it had prior to construction of the U-turns. C5 has been widened one lane on each side to create a service road for vehicles entering and exiting the highway but only up to less than a hundred meters from this intersection.

As the traffic builds up, three other bottlenecks are created with the farthest one just off the overpass from Market! Market!.

But poor design is just a minute part of the equation. It is really our driving habits that cause these massive traffic headache.

Bottlenecks are a boon of Philippine roads. From major thoroughfares like EDSA and C5 to secondary roads like Chino Roces Ave., Makati and Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong, the major cause of routine traffic build-up are bottlenecks, caused by other vehicles or road design or both.

A good case study of bottlenecks caused by vehicular traffic is EDSA from Pasay up to Caloocan. All 21-kilometers of the highway is riddled with bottlenecks created by fleets of empty buses competing for passengers.

C5, meanwhile, is beleaguered with infrastructure nuisance. No public buses here. But at the end of the day, we can only put the blame on ourselves on how we use the road.  Ok, there is a free lane on your right, but do you have take that lane knowing that the road will merge once again only a few meters ahead? 

Bad driving can be pointed to either ignorance or neglect. Sorry to say but many of us seem to have both.

But why is there ignorance and neglect on the road? If driving is a privilege, shouldn’t we be knowing and obeying traffic laws even before we’re warranted to drive?

I remember riding a jeepney one afternoon. I realized that the driver was young, probably in his early 20s. I thought this was a very exceptional moment because I have never seen, or at least noticed, a PUV driver younger than 30.

A few moments after boarding, it was apparent that he had the likeness of a veteran jeepney driver… one who would stop to load and unload anywhere, who would wait for passengers in the middle of the road with total disregard for the traffic behind him. What’s mind-boggling is that the driver remains oblivious to the clear no waiting signs–in Filipino–just beside him. Is this neglect or ignorance? Regardless.

It is unfathomable for anyone regardless of stature in life to use their disposition as an excuse to break the law. Just because you consider yourself a mere jeepney driver does not mean you can stop and wait for passengers at no loading and unloading zones so you can earn your day’s keep. Just because you’re an executive who is running late for an important meeting does not mean you can weave in and out of traffic with disregard for law and safety.

 The issue here is breaking the law. And if you broke the law, you should be apprehended and pay for it. But what is the weight of enforcement of our laws, if there is any enforcement at all?

Enforcement, or lack thereof, may just be the root cause of neglect, which is why we disregard traffic regulations and even mere road courtesy.

Why is enforcement weak in our country? Let’s take a brief look at the corrupt and the corruptible.

There was once a driver who got caught swerving across the double yellow line.

“Sir, nag-swerving ho kayo,” the traffic enforcer politely said.

“Kuya, pasensya na,” the driver pleaded. “Nagmamadali lang kasi eh.”

“Bawal ho kasi yun. Titicketan ko kayo sir.”

“Eh bakit naman yung iba di niyo hinuhuli?”

“Kasi kayo ang naabutan namin.”

“Baka pwede pag-usapan na lang natin. Ang hirap kasi magtubos ng lisensya eh.”

“O sige…”

… and we all know where this is going. Sadly, these kinds of encounters are the ones that we have become accustomed to. Violators conceding for a citation have become almost rare and isolated. The prevalance of these stories make it seem that incorruptible public officials are non-existent.

Let’s go back to C5. Not that enforcement is weak in this thoroughfare. What’s imaginably worse is that it is ostensibly inexistent. Vehicles could brave swerving the solid lines because there is no sign that says they should not, and there is no traffic enforcer to apprehend anyone who violates this simple traffic regulation.

Sadly, if there were anyone to apprehend vehicles there, it would cause an even massive build up because everyone seems to swerve just to get ahead of everyone else.

The corruption issue aside, enforcement is weak in the country because of lack of manpower and budget that could fund technologies to replace human resources. But beyond financial or manpower capacity, enforcement is simply weak because of the lack of political will.

Why is there a lack of budget in law enforcement? Why is it that low budgets equate to mediocre performance? Why is there lack of political will?

Budget deficit due to low tax collections. Government misappropriation. Graft and corruption. You name it. There are a myriad reasons why we do not have enough in our coffers.

And there is an equal amount of solutions to address these problems.

The underlying issue here is will. Enforcement is weak because of the lack of political will… across the governance spectrum.

A few years ago the West Service Road had undergone repairs, which entailed closing one lane of the two-lane road. This meant that the south bound vehicles would have to take the expressway and exit at Bicutan. 

A massive traffic build up occurred by the Sales Overpass as south-bound drivers insisted on taking the service road instead of paying 25 pesos for the toll. But there was a sign that clearly marked “No Entry. Take Expressway.”

I was riding my motorcycle on my way to the Fort and have just barely escaped the quagmire when I saw a traffic enforcer standing by the intersection seemingly oblivious to the gridlock just a few meters away. I stopped near him and pointed to the chaos.

“Ang kukulit kasi ng mga yan eh,” he said. “Sinabi ng wag papasok pumasok pa rin.”

“Bakit hindi niyo ho hulihin?” I asked. “Trabaho niyo ho yun, di ba?”

“Nagagalit eh. Ako daw magbayad ng toll nila.”

Subic Bay is a role model for traffic management in the country. Laws are enforced and followed within the freeport thanks to the will of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the legacy of its former grounds keeper, the Americans.
The North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) are also prime models of traffic management and policing. Sadly, the law-abiding driver throws out all the rules he follows once exiting these vicinities.

But they have budgets to enforce traffic regulations you say? Here is another case study.

Sun Valley, where I live, has a team of barangay tanods which also manages traffic at the junction of Sun Valley Drive and West Service Road. A small team of two to three people are present to manage the flow of pedestrian and vehicles. By simply observing, one can measure the effectiveness of this group. If no one was present to direct traffic, build up would be highly likely at any given time during the day. The absence of the tanods poses as a license for public utility vehicles to wait for passengers.

They cannot apprehend erring drivers but this does not deter them from doing their jobs well, which is to ensure the seamless flow of traffic.

No amount of money can buy will. Only the presence of effective leadership can develop and effectuate this amongst the members of any group, not to mention any traffic management teams.

Leadership also means standing up for what is right and not falling prey to pressure. In the case of C5, effective leadership does not only come from the traffic management authority, MMDA in this case. It is also drawn from the drivers themselves.

Try observing this: At the intersection, wait for someone to beat the red light. There is an assurance that others will follow especially if that rider is able to cross without being apprehended.

The disheartening issue in the traffic along C5 is that it is caused by one car swerving to a merging lane, followed by another and another. This is repeated not once, but three times along that 1.5-kilometer span. But the encouragement comes in the same form: following the leader. If no one does it, no one will follow.

The solution to the terrible traffic along C5 from Market! Market! to the Pasig River flyover is an amalgamation of all the Why’s in this write-up. But the primary prevention tool is in leadership–by authority and by example.

We need effective leadership across the board–from the government down to the citizenry. And effective leadership can only come from a servant mindset–the willingness to serve without profit. This kind of leadership entails genuine concern and drive to provide solutions to issues around you.

Maybe we need more of those signboards that says, “Kala ko ba gusto mo ng pagbabago?”

I once gave a talk in front of De La Salle Araneta college students about youth and student leadership. One of the participants asked, “How can we as students become active members of our community?”

“Simple,” I replied. “Obey the law… and the most basic of laws that you can abide to on a daily basis are traffic regulations–as a driver and as a pedesterian.”

This is also mentioned in Alex Lacson’s seminal work, “12 Things Every Filipino Can Do For Their Country.”

It is sad that in our country you are a martyr because you won’t cross the intersection when the traffic light is red, or you would rather take the longer route because the shorter alternative is prohibited.  And (road) martyrs, it seems, are scoffed at.

But I’d rather be a martyr because, at the end of the day, I am the solution and not the problem.